Ischgl slopes review
There is a very high snow guarantee in Ischgl and as we always go outside the holiday periods, the crowds are not that big. Often we don’t have to wait at the lifts, or if we have to, it’s limited to maybe 3-4 rows of people in front of us. The slopes are each day perfectly prepared.
1 Valley Run
Piste to the valley which splits several times. Make sure you prepare yourself to end up in the right part of the city, or you might need to walk the entire village with your skis on boots. Unless you just take the lift once again. There are plenty of steeper parts and especially the steep part ending at the Schatzi bar might be tricky at the end of the day. If you are a beginner, you might want to take the lift going down.
2 Take right
Slope from Idalp to go the other side of the area. Often in bad shape and the steep part often has buckles. The trick is to go completely to the right of the slope, and then it’s easier and in better shape. Make sure you have speed enough at the end to reach the lift without having to walk or struggle.
2b The hidden one
A bit hidden to find it, and not that long. Never crowded as most people overlook the slope. When you go down behind Ide Alp buildings on slope 1, you almost immediate have the slope on your left side. This also means it’s still well prepared even late in the afternoon. When we want a more easy slope, we often take this in between. You can then take the lift and come back on the 8 or the baby piste, which are also always good till end of the day.
6 First of the trip
Every trip we traditionaly arrive at Pardorma and start with blue slope number 6. We know it well, it’s not difficult and after some months of absence it’s good to feel comfortable the first meters on a slope.
7 Endless slope
Cool red slope which starts from 2 different locations. The start at the Pardorama is easier because it bypasses the steep part from the start at elevator B1. In December, when we go, the second part (7a) is mostly closed. Recently they changed the colour of 7a from red to black . This part is rather hard because there are longer steeper parts and it keeps you going. Getting back from halfway is via the new Velilleck lift (2019).
10/11/12/13 Idalp
At the Mittelstation Idalp you have plenty of lifts (B) and slopes. The are all blue and red and are relatively long. Even later on the day, they normally stay quite well in condition. In this area you also have the inflatable pillow which we tried back then in 2018.
14a/b/c For daredevils
The steepest slope in the area which goes up 70%. It took a long time before we dare to take this slope. By stating the percentage so explicitly it somewhat hold us back. We took it on a nice day with good snow conditions and in fact the slope is like any other steep black slope. Off course there are longer steeper parts, but all experienced skiers will survive 🙂
20/21 Parallel black
Black slopes which look steep depending from the angle you look at them. We will always remember these as when you want to start the slope, you don’t see it, so you gently go deeper and deeper, till you see the slope. Once you see the slope, you are to far down to return. They are steep, but very wide and always in good condition. You can end them with a flat part, so even if you are a beginner and loose a bit the control, you can normally safely quickly stop on the flat part. These were one of our first black slopes ever. We like them.
23 Long Blue one
This is traditionally one of our first slopes of our trip as we try to do some blue slopes when we arrive. Typically we arrive at Pardorama, go down on blue slope 6, following on 2 and taking the lift to slope 23. After this we are well warmed up to start our day. This slope can become very crowded and become very difficult as a result.
33/34/35 Awesome black ones
Nice black slopes which are normally not that crowded. For some reason it took us some years before we started to take these slopes, but we really enjoy them.
38 Horrible slope
This slope starts with a very small and steep part, luckily not that long. This slope is often very icy and has a lot of skew parts. Some of our friends love this slope, and other don’t love it. It’s far from my favorite, but mostly we end up on it every year. You can leave the slope by continuing on the black slope, which it crosses.
40 One of the longest
Very long red slope which get hard if you don’t stop a single time. There is somewhere shortly after the start a very technical short turn and often it’s not in good shape, but don’t be too scared, normally everyone manages to take it without accidents. I think this is one of the longest slopes in the area.
42 Ski route
Rather new and only open since the new Piz Val Gronda (E5) elevator was opened. The slope 42 is often closed, but the ski route 42 is mostly open. That is an unprepared slope, but that should not hold you back. The red slope is not too steep but make sure you have enough speed at the end to overcome the gentle uphill and flat ending.
60 Carving!
Awesome blue slope where you can keep going and take quite some speed and nice turns. Only annoying part is that you end in a small village where you have to take the bus to the big Twinliner or its neighbor. We take this slope for lunch and eat in the restaurant at the end of the slope. Then we can easily time well to get a bus without too much waiting.
62/63
Some great longer slopes to the valley of Samnaun. Especially the more hidden slope 63 is a great one with some nice turns. Make sure to keep your speed near the end to be able to reach the next lift. People come together from 3 different directions so make sure to look a bit around to avoid collisions on more busy moments.
80 Cross-country
In the beginning rather technical but real fun but it end with 2 km flat where you have to do cross-country. We don’t enjoy this, so we only take this slope once per 3-4 years.